Portrays himself as a change agent while Obama says McCain sticks with Bush

Posted June 3, 2008 9:40 PM

by Jill Zuckman

KENNER, La.- Asserting his place on the cusp of the unfolding general election, Sen. John McCain portrayed himself Tuesday night as a change agent with a history of fighting entrenched interests, and not President Bush's clone as Democrats would have voters believe.

He also recognized Sen. Barack Obama as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, describing him as captive to an unsuccessful liberal ideology.

"I have a few years on my opponent, so I am surprised that a young man has bought in to so many failed ideas," said McCain, who is 71 to Obama's 46. "Like others before him, he seems to think government is the answer to every problem, that government should take our resources and make our decisions for us."

It was an unusual decision for McCain to deliver a hard-hitting speech on the night Obama attained the Democratic nomination; many candidates would have let Obama have his moment, figuring they'd get little coverage anyway. McCain's decision to deliver a sweeping address, drawing battle lines for the fall campaign, signaled his intent to run an aggressive race in a year when Republicans are at a disadvantage and served notice that he would work hard to define Obama for voters before Obama could define himself.

The presumptive Republican nominee also offered praise for Sen. Hillary Clinton's history-making campaign, saying she deserved more appreciation than she sometimes received. "As the father of three daughters, I owe her a debt for inspiring millions of women to believe there is no opportunity in this great country beyond their reach," McCain said, in an appeal to women voters who might be disappointed by Clinton's loss.

Once considered the Democrats' favorite Republican for his frequent breaks with the GOP, McCain has been under relentless attack by the Democratic Party and liberal groups in recent weeks as a captive of special interests who would deliver more of the same after eight years under Bush. Much of the general election is likely to be defined by Democrats' attempts to portray McCain as running for "a third Bush term," and McCain's attempts to emphasize his independence.

Advisers to Obama suggested that McCain's preoccupation with separating himself from Bush on the eve of the general election meant that the Illinois senator had already won the first round. McCain was at pains Tuesday night to enumerate a series of differences with the president, who suffers one of the worst public approval ratings in modern history.

"I have worked with the president to keep our nation safe," he acknowledged. "But he and I have not seen eye-to-eye on many issues. We've disagreed over the conduct of the war in Iraq and the treatment of detainees; over out-of-control government spending and budget gimmicks; over energy policy and climate change; over defense spending that favored defense contractors over the public good."

And he criticized Obama for engaging in intellectual dishonesty by rhetorically tying him to Bush.

"Why does Senator Obama believe it's so important to repeat that idea over and over again? Because he knows it's very difficult to get Americans to believe something they know is false," McCain said. "So he tries to drum it into your minds by constantly repeating it, rather than debate honestly the very different directions he and I would take the country. But the American people didn't get to know me yesterday, as they are just getting to know Senator Obama. They know I have a long record of bipartisan problem solving."

Still, McCain will have to walk a careful line, since he cannot afford to unduly alienate Republican loyalists. But in a year when Republicans are deeply unpopular with most voters, his first priority is underscoring his credentials as a maverick.

He has a considerable record in that regard. Over the years, McCain has partnered with Democrats such as Sen. Russell Feingold of Wisconsin on campaign finance and ethics reform legislation and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts on immigration reform. Each of these partisan heresies has sparked heartburn among GOP leaders.

But Obama Tuesday dismissed those episodes as aberrations. "While John McCain can legitimately tout moments of independence from his party in the past, such independence has not been the hallmark of his presidential campaign," Obama said. "It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush 95 percent of the time as he did in the Senate last year."

It was no accident that McCain chose to speak from Louisiana, a state battered by both Hurricane Katrina and government incompetence, as a means of sending a message about his intentions as president and his unhappiness with the current administration. Katrina is widely considered one of the Bush administration's greatest failures.

"When Americans confront a catastrophe, they have a right to expect basic competence from their government," said McCain, describing the federal response as a "disgraceful failure."

McCain also ticked through health care, energy, the environment, taxes and government spending, among other issues, to point to Obama as representing the wrong kind of change. And in another dig at Obama, he said he does not seek the presidency "on the presumption I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save my country in its hour of need."

Finally, McCain said, he would work with anyone to solve the nation's problems. The Bush presidency has recently come under attack from a former insider for running a "permanent campaign," a charge that has also been leveled against Bill Clinton.

"There is a time to campaign and a time to govern," McCain said. "If I'm elected president, the era of the permanent campaign of the last 16 years will end. The era of reform and problem-solving will begin."

Comments

McCain and his handlers have their work cut out for them between now and November. If he expects to win the election, and I don't think he will or hope he won't, the image he projected tonight couldn't sell canned spam to starving maggots. For some unGodly reason he has become the change candidate (somebody break out the mummy tape).

It is unfortunate to see an ex-G.I., former POW and a United States Senator become something, he knows and everybody else knows, that he is not. It is one thing to concede on one point or two, but to remake yourself, that is out right fraud. Unfortunately he has taken a chapter from President Bush's playbook, because you do not get any phonier than President Bush. I had respect for Senator McCain when he ran against President Bush, but he has since lost my respect, most of all, because he went begging to President Bush, for his blessing . Doesn't he have any self-respect ? Apparently not, winning is everything, including, losing your principles !!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.

He is the change candidate. He flip-flops constantly and wouldn't even have voted for himself in 2000. The 2008 version of John McCain couldn't change a light bulb let alone the course of a nation. I once looked at this man as a viable candidate. I now see a futile power grab by a person whose time has past. Change does not mean siding with George Bush. McCain is four more years of the most ruinous decisions ever made by a president.

War-mongering criminals who dragged a nation into the worst foreign policy blunder ever. Corrupt men with no honor whatsoever. This is the legacy of the Bush administration. That is what a McCain administration would be as well. More war, more spending like drunken sailors. More money for the military-industrial complex. McSAME!!!

I see the hateful Obama supporters are out in full force tonight. What has Obama changed? I have yet to see 1 of his supporters name 1 thing he has changed. McCain has a long track record of working to get things done with others for the better of this country. Name one time Obama has gone against his party on any issue. McCain is despised in some hard core Repulican circles for doing just that. McCain is the candidate Obama only claims to be. All of these people attacking McCain are doing it for 1 reason only. He is running against Obama. They did the same thing to Hillary. The hate inside these Obama supporters is scary.

Vinny, you haven't seen hate yet. Wait til your Republican androids get their batteries charged. You put it right when you said McCain is despised by some Republicans. Wanna know why? They despise him because despite his supposed antipathy toward King George II, he had his head stuck so far up his dairy air Bush almost died from gastric strangulation (if you get the drift). No wonder they don't like him. None Republicans don't like his views on the war, the economy, and his lack of support for the GI Bill.

"God Bless America, if obama wins in Nov. We will need all the blessings we can get.

Posted by: Pat M. | June 4, 2008 12:06 AM"

I can understand your feelings. I felt EXACTLY the same way in 2000 and especially in 2004. Thanks to Bush, NO Republican candidate at ANY level will be acceptable for at least another 10-12 years, until we can clean up the corrupt mess he will be leaving to us. If McCain is elected, we haven't even got a PRAYER.

(Without him, I'd at least have CONSIDERED a good Republican candidate -- after all, I was raised a Republican and largely voted Republican up to the late 80's.)

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